


Sheet-Stealer

by INeverHadMyInternetPhase



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Reality, Self-indulgent fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, cover-stealing, so many cuddles, there are no warnings because this is literally just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 21:05:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6626269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INeverHadMyInternetPhase/pseuds/INeverHadMyInternetPhase
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times Phil stole the bedcovers, and 1 time Dan got there first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sheet-Stealer

**Author's Note:**

> This is such self-indulgent fluff. I'm sorry. I am tired and cuddle deprived. Also this is unbetaed, so sorry for any typos/mistakes ^_^

The first time, Dan had only just met Phil.

The day in Manchester was more than perfect – so much so, in fact, that Dan was still ninety-percent certain that he was floating in some kind of dream world, and his favourite YouTuber had never tweeted him in the first place, and his mind had constructed this very elaborate alternate universe spanning several months until he actually imagined himself meeting AmazingPhil for the very first time.

Except, that hug at the train station earlier had felt pretty real, and he wasn’t AmazingPhil, he was just Phil, with arms entirely too warm and a grin so bright it warmed even Dan’s cold and lonely heart. So Dan dared to believe it was real, dared to wrap his own slender arms around Phil’s broad shoulders, and curled himself up into Phil’s warmth.

The city was probably lovely. Dan knew he’d been taken around most of the sights, but his eyes had been on Phil for the whole day. He’d watched Phil smiling back at him, sensed the nervousness in those blue eyes, and so Dan somehow found the bravery to grab Phil’s hand in his own as they wandered the streets together.

The reassuring squeeze he’d received in return was more than enough.

But that was hours ago, and now Dan found himself in Phil’s family bathroom, staring into a mirror to a face he barely recognised. He could see his own familiar features, but it was as if they’d been stretched and brightened, lit with a confidence he’d never seen before. His eyes looked warm; his cheeks looked healthy. He barely recognised the pasty teenager he knew lay underneath.

Apparently, that’s what Phil did to him – gave him a confidence he didn’t even know he had.

Dan was smiling as he finished brushing his teeth. He slipped back out of the bathroom and made his careful way through the Lester house – he was so relieved Phil’s parents were away, it would be _so_ awkward to run into them in just his pyjamas, lost in their stupidly spooky house – and then he was back at Phil’s bedroom door. Dan glanced towards the bed, biting back a smile at what he saw.

Phil lay under the covers, buried almost completely. Dan had already discovered that Phil was a bit of a cuddler – throughout the day, as they’d grown bolder, Phil wound his arm around Dan more than once (Dan wasn’t upset about that development) – and it seemed Phil carried this trait through into his sleep.

Which wouldn’t be a problem, only he’d stolen all the covers.

Phil’s eyes were tight shut, and his breathing was even. His fringe was pushed back, revealing his smooth, pale forehead, and his fingers were twisted tightly around his bedsheets, which were pulled right up to his chin.

Dan didn’t hold back his smile this time, knowing he was safe, as Phil couldn’t see him. He paused for a moment to properly glance around the room – this was _AmazingPhil’s bedroom,_ after all, Dan had seen it so often in videos it was almost as familiar as his own. But when he glanced back, Phil had only burrowed further in his sheets.

Dan padded across the room and slid onto the other side of the bed, giving Phil’s side a gentle poke. “Hey. Budge up.”

“Nnnghfd.” A low, disgruntled noise was the only thing that escaped Phil’s lips, and he pulled the covers further around him.

Dan rolled his eyes just a little. “Phil, come on, I know you’re still awake.”

“No, no, I’m definitely sleeping.”

“You cover-hogger.” Dan’s tone was warm, though, and he snuggled down into Phil’s pillows. He nuzzled into Phil’s shoulder. “At least gimme a corner.”

Phil didn’t open his eyes, but he did lift his arm, allowing Dan to curl closer into his chest. Dan closed his eyes and burrowed closer, and even though he didn’t get any of the sheets, the warmth of Phil’s arm curving around his back more than made up for the cold Manchester night air.

\---

The second time, Dan turned up at Phil’s door nervous and shaking, his fingers digging into his arms. The instant a bleary-eyed Phil had the door open, Dan pushed through into his tiny flat and drew in a shaky, petrified breath. “I can’t do this.”

“Dan.” Phil’s voice was low and raspy, a whisker away from asleep.

“I can’t, Phil. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Phil offered him a small smile and a comforting silence to talk into.

Dan paced about Phil’s miniature living room, his fingers alternating between playing with the hem of his shirt and digging into the edges of his fringe. He talked in hasty, sharp bursts. “I thought I was old enough – mature enough – but clearly I’m not. My flatmates all went out and I thought I’d go with them, for a bit, but everyone was so shitfaced and I didn’t want to – not around strangers, you know?”

“I know.”

“Only then I had to go back on my own, and it was so fucking _empty_ and I…” Dan drew in a sharp breath, his fists clenching in his shirt.

Long pale fingers unpicked his tight hold, encasing his hands in a warm grip. Phil’s head rested against his. “It gets easier, eventually.”

“I don’t know if I can handle it.” Dan’s voice was barely a whisper against Phil’s shirt.

Phil nuzzled into him. “You can. You might not feel like it now, but you can.”

Dan mumbled something disbelieving.

Phil yawned into Dan’s hair, his arms winding around Dan’s shoulders. “Until you believe me, you can stay here.”

“I probably shouldn’t,” Dan muttered, but he made no move to step away from Phil. “Supposed to be getting independent, and all that.”

“Well, I don’t count as a person.” Phil stepped away, winding his fingers around Dan’s and leading him across to the bedroom.

Dan didn’t argue. He just clutched onto Phil, following him into the bedroom and onto the bed and under the covers. He wound his arms around Phil as soon as he could, curling up against Phil’s back, pressing his face into Phil’s familiar black hair.

Phil let out a small, pleased murmur. He pulled the sheets up over them both, and Dan closed his eyes, feeling like he was back at home even though he was still technically half-way across the country. Sleep was just curling around the edges of his mind when he felt it.

Phil shifted, and the covers disappeared from over Dan.

Dan cracked open an eye, furrowing his brow and squinting in the near-darkness. He could just make out the lumpy form of Phil curled over in a ball, and his fingers had grabbed for the covers again, until they were wrapped up in a safe little cocoon around Phil’s body.

Dan pursed his lips. He waited, just a few beats, but when it was obvious that Phil wasn’t moving any time soon, Dan knew he’d have to take action. He dug his fingers deliberately into Phil’s back. “Hey. Give them back.”

All he got was Phil shifting further away, until the last of the covers disappeared from around Dan.

Dan narrowed his eyes. Goosebumps were spreading up his arm, the cold Manchester air biting into his bare skin. He poked Phil again, firmly, in the shoulder this time.

Phil let out the tiniest, most pitiful groan Dan had ever heard in his life.

“Oh, fine, you giant lump.” Dan huffed, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling. “Keep your covers.” He curled up closer to Phil’s back, winding an arm around Phil’s form. If he couldn’t have the sheets, he was just going to have to steal as much of Phil’s body heat as he could.

Besides, the way Phil rather automatically curled back against Dan wasn’t half bad.

\---

The third time, Dan should probably have been used to it. But he’d harboured a secret hope that maybe, just _maybe,_ by the time he and Phil had moved into their own place together, Phil would realise that the sheets technically belonged to both of them now and he really should probably share.

No such luck.

Dan arrived into the doorway of their bedroom – the other room was currently serving as a dumping ground for all the boxes they hadn’t yet bothered to unpack – only to see Phil already determinedly under the sheets, his head buried face-down into the pillow.

Dan huffed out a sigh. “Really? Already?”

Phil’s only response was a muted mumble and a tightening of the sheets around him.

Dan folded his arms, foot tapping against the carpet as he surveyed the hopeless Phil-shaped lump underneath their _shared_ bedsheets. “Phil, we’ve talked about this.”

“I don’t remember that.” Phil turned his head sideways just enough to speak, but his eyes remained firmly closed.

“It was literally two hours ago.”

“Nope, I’m sure nothing like that has ever happened.”

Dan could feel his lips twitching, even as irritation curled in his gut. He huffed. “Well, I could just walk out and leave you alone.”

Phil’s eyes did fly open at that. “You wouldn’t!”

Dan merely raised a brow.

“Not tonight!” Phil’s tone was full of sleepy panic. “Not on our first proper night!”

“What do you call all the other nights?”

“But this is the first night in _our_ place,” Phil insisted. “You can’t abandon me!”

“Budge up, then.” Dan approached the bed with a smirk lifting his lips.

Phil grunted. “It’s a double bed. There’s loads of space.”

“Yeah, but you’re a giant lump and a sheet-hogger, so, move.”

“You’re so rude.” Phil shook his head, obediently rolling over with a disgruntled huff when Dan clambered in beside him. “Why am I even bothering living with you?”

“Search me.” Dan shrugged, and then he tugged at a corner of the sheets.

Phil clutched them more possessively, sending Dan a dangerous glare.

Dan lifted his eyes heavenwards. “If you’re not going to share, I’m going to freeze to death, and then you’re going to have to run all our projects on your own.”

“Maybe I’ll just find a better partner,” Phil grunted even as he enveloped Dan within his arms. “One who doesn’t boss me around so much.”

“Don’t you dare.” Dan nuzzled into Phil’s shoulder, closing his eyes. Phil’s arms tightened around him, bringing him in close, and Dan admitted silently that maybe he was a little bit happy with his life just then.

Even if Phil did keep the sheets firmly wrapped around himself all night, and he kept shifting and accidentally elbowing Dan in the ribs until eventually he rolled away completely.

Dan followed him, though, and nuzzling into Phil’s back was never a bad way to sleep.

\---

The fourth time was a long time coming.

After one-too-many freezing nights in Manchester, Dan had taken Phil aside and had a serious conversation about sheet-stealing with him, and with a threatened ban on cereal, Phil eventually complied and allowed Dan to curl up under the covers with him. Those nights were Dan’s favourite. It didn’t matter what kind of day they’d had – stressful or full of work or just hours sitting opposite each other on their laptops – every night they’d fall under the sheets together, sharing the same space as they drifted into sleep.

Dan held out hope that the newfound night-time warmth would follow them down to their new flat, in the midst of the rush and thunder of London traffic that never seemed to shut up. Phil had to stuff his face under the pillow to block out the sound, not used to such loud city noise. Dan, a little more accustomed, curled up next to him, wrapped them both up in the sheets, and threw a casual arm across Phil’s back. The old, desperate _need_ to be next to each other had dimmed a little over the years, but the warmth and comfort they found in each other never had and probably never would.

The first few nights were blissful, but then Phil bought earplugs and Dan started staying up later, finding the depths of the internet too enticing until he’d glance up, bleary-eyed from an intense browsing session, and realise it was three in the morning and he probably should have been asleep a few hours ago.

Dan stumbled his way up the corridor, rubbing at his eyes, and nudged open the door to Phil’s (but really their) bedroom. He sagged down onto his side, flopping backwards and grabbing blindly for the sheets, except his hands met blank air.

Dan furrowed his brows. He shifted onto his side and was met with a Phil-shaped lump wrapped up in a burrito of blankets tightly wound around his form.

Dan let out a long, exhausted sigh. “ _Really?”_

Phil, predictably, didn’t stir.

Dan grunted, shuffling about on the bed in an effort to get comfy and warm, but the air was cold without the sheets or Phil’s arms around him. Dan could only stand it for a few minutes before he gave up. He pressed himself up against Phil’s back, nuzzling against him and wriggling his cold hands under the covers.

The time to be merciful had ended years ago.

Phil gave a yelp, scrambling away when Dan’s cold hands edged to the back of his neck, attempting to sneak under the covers.

Dan chuckled evilly. “We’ve discussed this, Lester.”

“Dan!” Phil twisted to face him, his eyes wide and betrayed. “I was sleeping!”

“And _I_ was trying to join you, but you stole all the sheets again.”

Phil glanced down at himself, blinking, and he at least had the grace to look a little guilty.

Dan shook his head, attempting to keep his expression stern. “C’mon, give them back.”

“I almost don’t want to,” Phil huffed, “Because I was _fast_ asleep, and your hands are _freezing_.”

“Another reason I’m trying to warm them up.”

“I really hate you.” Phil grumbled as he shifted, reluctantly unwrapping the cocoon of blankets and lifting a corner so Dan could crawl under them, too.

Dan hummed, curling up in the warmth. His eyes fell shut almost immediately and he laid his head on Phil’s shoulder, nuzzling up to him. The blankets were deliciously warm after clinging to Phil for the past few hours.

Phil shifted, wrapping one lazy arm around Dan’s shoulders. His lips were right by Dan’s ear as he muttered, “You’re seriously freezing, I’m like fully awake now.”

“Not my problem.” Dan was mostly asleep already, so he didn’t hear Phil’s little disgruntled sigh.

He did, however, feel the way Phil’s arms encased him, and that coupled with the sheets wrapped him up in blissful warmth as he drifted into dreams.

\---

The fifth time, they weren’t even in the country, and Phil _still_ managed to steal the sheets.

The hotel room was large and expansive, Japan sprawling outside their window, lit up in the evening glow of neon signs and flashing streetlights. With the blinds drawn, their hotel room gave off a warm, homely yellow glow.

Dan wasn’t that tired – the timezone change was weird, it was the wrong way to America and it threw his body clock off even more than usual – but Phil, as ever, was exhausted from travelling, and he jumped straight into bed the minute they arrived.

Dan rolled his eyes as he took off his shoes. “Phil? We haven’t even eaten yet.”

“I’m too sleepy.” Phil’s face was already buried in the pillows. His hands were gripping the corners of the sheets, threatening to draw them close in his usual tight cocoon, so smothered around him that Dan had no hope of getting in.

Dan, however, saw his plan, and vaulted onto the bed before he could. “No! You are not doing this here!”

“Ah! Gerroff!” Phil yelped, rolling in the sheets with a very heavy and very clumsy Dan suddenly sprawled on top of him. Dan ignored him, savagely grabbing the edges of the sheets and holding them firmly away from Phil’s body.

Phil gave him the most pathetic puppy-dog eyes Dan had ever seen.

Dan lifted his eyes up to the ceiling. “Fucking _hell,_ you are impossible.”

“Daaaaan,” Phil whined, his eyes widening even further.

Dan held that glare for as long as he could, but when Phil actually gave a sniff, he huffed out and jumped off the bed again, dropping the sheets on top of Phil.

Phil gave a happy little squeal.

“ _Fine,_ ” Dan muttered, stalking over towards the door. “I’m going to get food, and you aren’t getting any unless you promise to let me under there tonight.”

“Maybe.”

Dan let out a frustrated sigh, spinning from where he was pulling his shoes back on to see Phil curled stubbornly up under the blankets again. He literally had them rolled completely around him, so much so that he resembled a caterpillar lying alone in the centre of the giant bed.

Dan grumbled. “You’d _better_ let me under there later. I’m going to find sushi.”

“Don’t bring me back any of the weird green ones.”

“You’re getting whatever I find, and you’re going to be happy about it,” Dan threatened before he stalked out of the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Phil still had his face hidden under the blankets, but he might have been shielding the biggest grin.

\---

Five times, and Dan was certain, absolutely positively _certain,_ that he was _not_ going to let Phil get away with cover-stealing again.

They made it back into the flat, exhausted and bleary-eyed, dragging the endless suitcases up the stairs behind them. Dan could feel the grittiness of sleep already clinging to the corners of his eyes, itching at his eyelids, battering at his brain. He walked with heavy steps, every movement weighted.

As soon as they were through the door, Dan collapsed face-first onto the sofa, Phil right behind him. Their suitcases were clumsily dumped onto the ground, their coats shed and dropped without further thought.

“I claim first shower,” Phil muttered into Dan’s back.

Dan shifted with a groan. “Gladly. I’m just getting into bed.”

“You’ll stink the place up.”

“Honestly, Phil, I don’t even care.” Dan’s eyes were firmly shut, his fingers curled into the sofa cushions. “Like, words cannot even fathom just how little I care right now.”

“Stinky McGee.” Phil poked a finger into Dan’s side.

Dan gave a wriggle, kicking out at him. “I’ll shower in the morning. I don’t even think I could stay upright for long enough tonight.”

“Lazybones.” Phil’s tone was full of affection. He pulled himself up, pausing to ruffle Dan’s hair as he stumbled his way over to the door. “Get into bed then.”

“As soon as I can be bothered to move.”

“If you’re still there when I come back, I’m stealing the covers again,” Phil threatened.

Dan jumped bolt upright at that. “You will _not_!”

But Phil had disappeared, just the remnants of a ghostly chuckle lingering in the room behind him.

Dan glared, disgruntled, at the now-empty door, his brows furrowing. His lower lip stuck out a little as he surveyed the mess of suitcases piled around the room (and yes, ok, maybe he was pouting, but he was _exhausted._ Usually he slept on flights, but this time he just couldn’t drop off).

Dan stayed there for another minute, until he heard the running water from the shower and Phil’s tuneless, familiar singing echoing up from the bathroom. Then, and only then, did Dan drag himself upright. He knew Phil too well to doubt that he was serious about the cover-stealing thing.

Well, Dan wasn’t going to let him this time.

In fact, as Dan stumbled into their bedroom, shedding clothes as he went, a wicked idea came to him. He grinned.

The bed was empty. The covers were all his.

Why not give Phil a taste of his own medicine?

And that was how Phil stumbled back from his shower, pyjamas on and hair still dripping, to find Dan curled up stubbornly on his usual side of the bed, with Phil’s covers wrapped tightly around his long, slumbering body.

Phil’s jaw hung open for a moment. He paused in the doorway, one hand still ruffling his fringe, and stared at Dan stretched out across his bed. The sheets clung to him, wrapped up in a cocoon that was just a mockery of Phil’s usual habit, really. Honestly. Who did Dan think he was?

Phil folded his arms and huffed. “You aren’t serious.”

Dan didn’t move.

“Dan?” Phil stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. He placed a hand on Dan’s shoulder and gave him a shake, eliciting something close to an _eep_ from Dan’s lips. “Dan? Come on, move.”

“No, Phil.” Dan’s voice was muffled from under his endless wrap of blankets. “This is _mine_ now.”

Phil huffed, wondering just who he should complain to for giving him such a ridiculous excuse for a partner. “Dan, come on. You’re in _my_ bed.”

“Technically it’s _ours,_ ” Dan mumbled sleepily, “And I’m already asleep.”

“You’re talking to me.”

“Sleep-talking.”

“Dan!” Phil moved around and sat on his side of the bed, the mattress crinkling with his weight. He leaned over and tugged at the edge of the blankets, pursing his lips. “C’mon, let me in!”

“Nope!” Dan was practically crowing. He rolled away from Phil’s grip, dragging the blankets determinedly after him so he wouldn’t lose his lovely little burrito of warmth. “Mine now.”

“Dan, you’re completely ridiculous.”

“Haha!” Dan rolled to face Phil again, cricking open one eye to send him a mirth-filled stare. “Now you know how _I’ve_ felt all these years.”

Phil pulled his lips down into a frown, but Dan just cackled again before closing his eyes and curling up even tighter.

Phil let out a loud sigh. He tilted his head, just contemplating Dan for a bit, trying to figure out his best way in. Because Phil Lester did _not_ sleep without covers. That was completely unheard of.

And yet, the longer he looked, the more Phil noticed. He noticed the way Dan’s fingers were clutching so tight to the edge of the blankets, and the way his forehead had the tiniest little furrow in the centre that gave his entire face an adorable look of focused concentration, even with his eyes shut. He noticed the way Dan’s fringe was curling at the edges, dripping down into his eyes. He noticed how the sheets just barely moved with the slow rise-and-fall of Dan’s breathing, and the way his lips curled up just slightly at the corners.

Phil watched, and he noticed, and he barely lasted two minutes before giving up with a huff.

“Alright, fine,” he muttered into Dan’s ear, flopping noisily down beside him. _“Fine,_ just this once, you can keep my bedsheets.”

Dan’s lips twitched, but he kept his eyes firmly shut.

Phil wrapped an arm around Dan-in-the-bedcovers, and Dan rolled a little closer, even as he kept a firm grip on the sheets. And Phil had to admit, even with the air biting at his bare skin, he couldn’t bring himself to be too annoyed. Dan’s cheeks were smooth and flushed, his hair sticking to his forehead, and he nuzzled himself right into the middle of Phil’s arms in a way he hadn’t since he was still a gangly teenager, nervous about sharing a bed for the first time.

And even without his bedsheets, Phil still fell asleep with a smile at his lips.


End file.
